Accidental Surrogate for Alpha

#Chapter 474 Awake

Ella

I’m groggy, a few hours later, when I wake up because I honestly haven’t gotten much sleep. But still, I’m instantly aware that I’m awake because something in my body is…different.

s my eyes crack open, I have absolutely no idea what it is, and no real interest in finding out. Because nothing feels wrong or off…just… different…

So, I yawn and snuggle my body back against my naked mate, my spine pressed to his warm stomach. Sinclair gives a deep, sleepy little growl as he tightens his arm around me, holding me close even as he sleeps. I smile at this, happiness sweeping through me as I think about how lovely it is to have a mate that holds me and protects me even when he’s mostly unconscious.

And he’s so warm, and the bed is so soft, and the sheets are so smooth under my bare skin that I almost…

Almost fall back asleep…

But then? My eyes suddenly fly open.

Because there is…there is something new within me.

As I start to put the pieces together, I am instantly, starkly awake – and so is Rafe, I realize, as I peer through the dark over the side of the bed. My sweet baby is peering at me curiously through the slats of his crib – almost as if he can feel it too

This new…new thing within me, a bond that wasn’t there hours ago – but which is there now, just a tiny silver thread of something new

My hands fly to my mouth and my eyes instantly fill with tears because even though I didn’t experience this with Rafe – my wolf wasn’t awake then, after all, to help me feel it – I suddenly know precisely what it is.

My voice is shaky as I breathe the word, hardly daring to voice it.

“…baby – ”

Rafe burbles something, smiling at me and leaning forward, grabbing the edges of his crib, trying to pull himself up so that he can be closer – almost like he knows it too –

And suddenly I’m laughing – the sound bubbling out of me, rich with joy. “Baby!” I say again, sitting up in a flash.

my waist as I spin to him, pushing him onto his back and throwing a leg over his hips so that

because of it, completely unable

hands tightening on my hips as he stares up at me, confused – worried but one look at my thrilled face makes him

laughing and giggling as

for a second – “Ella,” he

eyes suddenly go wide and I know, instantly, that he feels it

a little so that I’m sitting in his lap, his arms going tight around me as he stares down into my face. “Oh my god,” he murmurs, still

baby!” I shriek, throwing my hands

as a mystified smile finds his lips. “Oh my god, Ella,

arms around his shoulders, as he tucks his head against my neck and

and joy, and pride, and a

face up to mine, grinning at him with abandon and wiping away his shocked and happy tears. “A little baby, Dominic,” I

in shock. He pulls away from me just a

passing all my own joy down the bond. Because

in his heart, holding me close and rocking me back and forth before he lets me go,

voice eager and thrilled, “let’s check

and a little anxious – is the baby

putting a steady hand on my cheek. “Close your eyes,” he murmurs, his voice excited, if soft. I do as he says, loosing a deep breath and draping my arms lightly around his neck before I close my eyes. I feel Sinclair connect to me down our bond,

almost as if he puts a mental finger

glowing rush, I suddenly know…so,

a great deal like her brother’s, but also has a line of sweetness and determination within it not that that Rafe

with tears and

ask quietly, completely overwhelmed. “When Rafe was still growing? When he was

Slowly, Sinclair nods.

ask, smacking him on

you to be jealous,” he

down my cheeks, as I look down at my flat belly and press a hand over it where she exists, where she’ll grow. “She’s already…like the start of a whole